Genes
A gene is a hereditary trait that is passed from parent to offspring. In Niche, there are 21 different types of genes, each of which affects a different part or ability of the Nicheling. These types of genes are: Ear, Horn, Eye, Nose, Body Type, Paws, Hind Legs, Tail, Albinism, Melanism, Fur Color, Eye Color, Horn Color, Pattern Color, Pattern, Pattern Shape, Pattern Density, Pattern Size, Blood Clotting, Fertility, and Immunity. However, males only have one copy of the blood clotting gene since it is an X-linked trait and males only have one X chromosome while females have two. Each animal has two copies of every gene. They inherit one copy from their mother and one from their father. When they breed, each parent will randomly pass on one copy of each gene. If a gene is dominant, then only one copy is needed for it to be expressed. If it is recessive, then two copies are needed. In the case of co-dominance '''and incomplete dominance', both genes are expressed. Please note that if there are multiple variations of the same gene, some genes can be more dominant than others. For example, brown eyes are ''dominant to green eyes but recessive to black eyes. Therefore, a creature with genes for brown and green eyes will have brown eyes, but a creature with genes for brown and black eyes will have black eyes. __FORCETOC__ Genes and Gene Dominance Albinism and Melanism Albino Nichelings have white fur and red eyes, while melanistic Nichelings have black fur, tinted with a little bit of midnight-blue. Both albinism and melanism will mask pattern, fur color, mane color, and horn color. Albinism will also mask eye color. The dominance orders are: no albinism > albinism & no melanism > melanism Melanism and Albinism aren't rarer than the other, and it's more so the "luck of the draw". If both Albinism and Melanism genes are dominant the Melanism will show visually instead. Blood Clotting Blood clotting affects how long the Nichelings bleed after being injured. It is a sex linked gene; females have two copies and males only have one. The dominance order is: Normal Blood Clotting > Hemophilia Fur Color Fur color genes affect the overall color of a creature. Due to incomplete dominance, the creature's fur color will be a mix of the two genes. For example, two white fur genes will produce a white animal and two black fur genes will produce a black animal, but a black gene and a white gene will produce a grey animal. Pattern Color Pattern Color genes affect the color of the mane on male creatures and pattern on all creatures. Due to incomplete dominance, the mane and pattern color is a mix of the creature's two genes. (updated) Patterns Pattern project here Patterns affect camouflage. The dominance order is: No Pattern > Dots > Mask> Stripes. The pattern system has 4 layers Pattern - Pattern Type - Pattern Density - Pattern Size. There are 3 patterns, Dots, Stripes and Mask as well as No Pattern. Each pattern has 4 types A, B, C, D, and these types influence how the pattern looks. Patterns also have density and size, also which influence how the pattern will look. Ears Ear genes affect Hearing, Heat Resistance and Cold Resistance. The dominance order is: Medium Ears > Big Ears > Round Ears > Bearyena Ears. Head Head genes affect Strength, Smelling, Cracking, Collecting, Underwater Breathing, Feeding from the Bottom, Digging, and Venomous. The dominance order is: Derp Snout > Short Snout > Big Nose > Cracker Jaw > Poison Fangs > Platypus Beak > Gills > Sticky Tongue > Saber Tooth Fangs > Bat Head > Purr Snout > Digging Trunk > Bird Beak > Bearyena Snout Horn Horn Genes affect strength and weather prediction. The dominance order is: No Horns > Ram > Savanna Horns > Antlers > Megaloceros Horns > Antennae Horn Color Horn Color genes affect the color of the horns and claws on creatures. Due to incomplete dominance, the Horn Color is a mix of the creature's two genes. The colors are White, Black, Brown, and Red. Eyes Eye genes affect Eyesight, Smelling, and Hearing. However, you will rarely start off with two Nichelings that have 100% normal eyes. The dominance order is: Eyes > Shortsighted Eyes > Blind Eyes. Eye Color Eye Color changes the color of a creature's eyes. It is a cosmetic gene and has no other effects. The dominance order is: Black > Brown > Yellow > Green > Blue > Violet > Orange. Body Body genes affect Strength, Speed, Heat Resistance, Cold Resistance, Spikiness, Swimming, Underwater Breathing, Poisonous, Stealth, Flight, Appearance, and Smell. The dominance order is: medium body > lean body > water body > spiky body / big body / toxic body* > armored body > heat body. *The dominance order of these bodies is not as linear as normally: spiky body > big body | big body > toxic body | toxic body > spiky body Toxic Body Colors (Old & New) Paw Paw genes affect Speed, Flight, Strength, Collecting, Cracking, Swimming, and Digging. The genes are co-dominant. Hind Leg Hind Leg genes affect Speed and Swimming. The dominance order is Hind Leg > Webbed Hind Leg > Bearyena Hind Leg Tail The dominance order is: Medium Tail > Swimming Tail > Fishing Tail > Stinky Tail> Tailfin > Hammer Tail > Scorpion Tail > Peacock Tail. Fertility Each creature has 2 copies of the fertility gene. A creature's fertility will be the sum of both copies of the gene; e.g. an animal with a high fertility gene (+3) and a medium fertility gene (+2) will have 5 fertility. Breeding success depends on the fertility of both partners; infertile animals (0 fertility) are unable to breed at all. Fertility also affects the likelihood of twin births, with higher fertility meaning a higher chance of twins. The highest amount of fertility is 6 (per creature) and 12 in a pair. Immunity Each creature has two genes for immunity, which they inherit from their parents. Creatures with two identical immunity genes are born with a genetic illness. As genetic illnesses can't be cured, it causes them to live for half the amount of days they normally would. (12.) The immunity genes are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, and Home Island Immunity. Immunity J is the rarest immunity you can get in the game, as it is almost always found exclusively in the jungles, and the most common immunity will depend on how you play/breed your Nichelings. Special Genes Ancient Genes To unlock these special genes, you must travel to the mountain biome and find an ice rock. Once the rock is broken, a frozen nicheling with one of the ancient genes will appear and join your pack. Hybrid Genes Hybrid genes are unlocked by breeding a nicheling to another species. Currently, nichelings can only breed with bearyenas. Potential/Unknown Genes. Category:Creature